German industrial orders fell sharply in August, after a record month in July, official data released on Wednesday showed, as global supply bottlenecks pinch the economy. The indicator, which gives a foretaste of industrial activity, fell by 7.7 pe...

British supermarket giant Tesco on Wednesday posted a near 70-percent surge in first-half net profit on the back of higher pandemic sales and its "resilient" supply chain. Profit after tax jumped to £781 million ($1.1 billion, 917 million euros) i...

Taiwan's military relations with Beijing have plunged to their lowest point in four decades, the island's defence minister warned on Wednesday, following a string of record Chinese jet incursions into Taipei's air defence zone. "For the military, ...

A video clip tagged "farewellcomrades" has gone viral ahead of this week's Czech elections as the Communist Party faces a parliamentary wipe-out, 32 years after being toppled in the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The clip features a queue for food reminis...

Fleeing their home after the La Palma volcano erupted on September 19, one couple married nearly 60 years decided to seek safe haven aboard their tiny boat until the storm passed. When the evacuation order came, neither Margaretha Straates, 80, nor...

Western Balkan countries can expect reassurances but no concrete progress on their stalled bids for European Union membership when EU leaders meet Wednesday. The 27-nation club is set to talk up economic support worth billions of euros for its east...

Lawyer Thomas Walther, 78, gets prickly when he hears criticism of German courts putting elderly surviving Nazis -- many over 90 years old now -- on trial. "No one voices any doubts when charges are filed over a murder after 30 years," he tells AFP...

Breakthroughs in DNA sequencing, innovative gas storage, nanocrystals or a second chance for mRNA Covid-19 vaccines? Speculators on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry are spoiled for choice ahead of the announcement on Wednesday. The winner -- or winner...

A familiar sense of crisis threatens to envelop Chinese football with the men's national team heading into crunch 2022 World Cup qualifiers still looking for their first point and first goal. China under President Xi Jinping have grand plans to bec...

Australian medical tech manufacturer Ellume said it had recalled almost 200,000 at-home Covid-19 tests in the United States over an increased chance of false positives. Ellume's rapid at-home coronavirus test last year became the first to receive e...

After spending 13 years as a Taliban fighter waging an insurgency, Rahimullah is now slowly adjusting to the relatively ordinary role of a policeman in Afghanistan's capital. Like the rest of the Taliban, he is grappling with an awkward transition ...

Freedom of expression non-profit PEN America honored three imprisoned Iranian writers on Tuesday at its annual gala that featured actors Jodie Foster and Awkwafina. The literature and human rights organization awarded Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan an...

Asian markets resumed their retreat Wednesday as a strong lead from Wall Street was overshadowed by ongoing worries about a range of issues from rising inflation, tighter monetary policy, a possible US debt default and the ever-present threat of the...

From the boutiques of Christian Dior to royal wedding favours, jute is growing in popularity worldwide as demand for alternatives to plastic soars, with experts predicting the bag industry alone will be worth more than $3 billion by 2024. India is...

A delegation of French senators led by a former defence minister arrived on Wednesday in Taiwan, where they will hold talks with President Tsai Ing-wen, despite strong protests from China. Beijing opposes Taipei having any official diplomatic excha...